-1Chapter Seventeen:

"So then I thought to myself, why not just go to law school? I mean, I've always been really good at following rules and making sure others do as well. This one time when I was about, oh I dunno, six or seven maybe? A bunch of the kids in my class were planning a nasty prank to pull on our teacher, Mrs. Ferguson. Well, of course I wanted no part of it. And when Sally Benson told me that they were going to stick pieces of chalk in all of the erasers, I immediately went and told the teacher what they were up to." The blonde continued to drone on, smiling to herself victoriously. "They were all punished accordingly."

"That's…" Michael searched for the right word, making sure the sarcasm in his voice was clearly evident. "Fascinating."

"Then there was the time I discovered that some of the other students in my class had cheated on their midterms!" she exclaimed, her blue eyes gleaming with pride. "I walked right into the principal's office and…"

"Look, uh, what did you say your name was again?" Michael interrupted, knowing that if he sat there and listened to one more of her sickening tales of morality he may just have to shoot himself.

Or her.

"Christine." she replied, grinning self-assuredly.

"Well it's been a pleasure, Christine." he lied because it was the polite thing to do. "But I really should go and see what's keeping Lauren."

"Oh, she's probably just outside smoking a joint or something." Christine said dismissively, her eyes widening in excitement as she remembered something. Michael felt another story coming on. "Ya know, I caught Lauren and her friends getting high in the parking lot at school once." she whispered, crossing her arms in front of her chest triumphantly. "Vice principal Fernley was not happy."

"Well, it sounds like Walnut Grove High is lucky to have someone like you fighting crime and sacrificing her own social life in order to keep all the pot smoking, chalk tampering, cheaters in line." Christine's smile faded and Michael could tell she hadn't missed the sarcasm in his voice that time. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on my girlfriend."

Michael stood up from the table and downed the rest of his punch in one gulp. He had a feeling it may have been spiked and he chuckled to himself quietly, wondering how long it would take Christine to figure it out and alert the proper authorities. Placing his now empty glass on the table, he offered the blonde a forced smile before turning and walking towards the door.

He glanced down at his watch for the umpteenth time since Lauren had left to go and speak with her father. Twenty minutes. Twenty long, agonizing minutes since she had left and he had been stuck making small talk with one of the most annoying girls he had ever met. Lauren better have a damn good excuse for putting me through that, Michael mused to himself as he maneuvered his way through the busy hotel foyer.

Stepping outside into the humid night air, Michael glanced around the nearly deserted parking lot. There was a group of kids from prom smoking by the hotel garden and an elderly lady was walking her dog down the sidewalk to his left. But other than that, Michael couldn't make out any other discernable signs of life. Lauren and her father were nowhere to be seen.

Puzzled, Michael walked around to the side of the hotel thinking that maybe Neil had parked his car around back. But as he entered the dark alleyway, he saw that it was empty too. He was about to turn around and go back when something caught his eye. There was something on the ground near one of the hotel's big green garbage cans, the light from a nearby street lamp reflecting off its shiny surface. Michael slowly made his way closer to get a better look. He crouched down on the ground, his stomach twisting in knots when he realized what it was.

A crown. Lauren's crown.

And in that instant, Michael knew that something was terribly, horribly wrong.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Where is she? Where's my daughter?" Neil bellowed as he pushed through the heavy metal doors and entered the crowded hotel foyer. There were police everywhere, some interviewing students while others canvassed the parking lot looking for clues.

"Mr. Fenmore," an elderly woman in an expensive looking suit approached him and he recognized her as the school's vice principal. "I am so sorry…"

"How could this happen?' Neil interrupted her, he wasn't in the mood for excuses. "I thought the school hired extra security?"

"We did, but they were busy taking care of another matter." Mrs. Fernley explained, guilt and concern written all over her wrinkled face. Neil was about to blast her for not making student safety her top priority, when all of a sudden he saw someone approaching out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't…I don't know where she is. She was supposed to be outside."

"Michael…" Neil sighed, placing his hand on the shoulder of the only other person in the room whose fear matched his own.

"She was supposed to be with you," Michael continued to explain and Neil wondered if the distraught young man even knew he was there. "The concierge said she was going to speak to you."

"Has he been questioned by the police?" Neil asked hopefully. "Maybe he knows who took her."

"I should have gone with her." Michael went on, completely unresponsive. "This is all my fault…"

"Shut up!" Neil ordered, his voice raising significantly. Michael blinked up at him in shock, obviously suprised by his outburst. "I'm sorry, son. But you need to shut up and listen to me, okay?" the young man slowly nodded his head in comprehension."Good. Now just tell me exactly what happened and maybe if we put our heads together we can figure out who took her."

"Everything was going fine," Michael began recounting his version of events. "We ate dinner and then Lauren…Lauren was voted prom queen." He smiled at that, but it quickly faded when a look of angry realization crossed his face.

"What?" Neil asked in confusion. "Michael, what is it?"

"Romalotti." He hissed, eyes glaring with uncontrolled rage.

"Daniel?" Neil surmised. "You think he had something to do with this?"

"We got in a fight and he threatened her. The asshole threatened her right in front of everyone." Michael explained, his voice raising considerably. "I swear to God, if he hurts her I'll fucking kill him!" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Neil could tell he regretted them. He almost chuckled at the look on Michael's face at realizing he had just cursed in front of his girlfriend's father. "Sorry."

"Don't be." Neil replied dismissively. "If that little shit has my baby girl, I'll kill him myself."

"Where would he have taken her?" Michael wondered out loud.

"I'll ask around," Neil declared, already scanning the crowd for anyone he recognized as being one of Danny's friends. "Someone here might know where he is."

"Good idea." Michael agreed, moving to confront the students himself.

"Wait." Neil said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder to halt his movements. "I'll take care of things on this end, you need to go home."

"No." Michael replied defiantly. "I need to do this, I need to find Lauren."

"And we will. But right now someone needs to be at home in case anyone calls." Neil declared rationally. If it was Danny who had taken Lauren he doubted the little prick would be making any ransom calls, but it was better to be safe then sorry. "And I had to leave Kevin on his own," he added, knowing that concern for his little brother may be the only thing powerful enough to convince Michael to leave. "He needs you right now."

"Okay." The younger man agreed, although reluctantly. "But you'll call me as soon as you hear anything?"

"Of course." Neil assured him. Michael nodded, turning to leave. "And, Michael?"

"Yeah?" Michael responded, turning around to face him once more.

"We will find her." Neil promised.

We have to.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Mikey?" The sound of his little brother's voice interrupted Michael's troubled thoughts. He looked up at Kevin, startled to realize that he had been sitting there in the living room for hours, staring at the phone as if willing it to ring. The little boy approached him cautiously. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Michael replied hoarsely, patting the couch cushion beside him in silent invitation. "I'm just worried about Lauren."

"Me too." Kevin agreed, sitting down beside his big brother on the spacious leather couch. When he had arrived back at the Fenmore estate nearly three hours earlier, Michael had been relieved to discover that Neil had already filled Kevin in on Lauren's disappearance. Michael had barely come to terms with it himself and he had been dreading the thought of having to tell his baby brother that she was gone. And that he had let it happen.

"Why would someone want to hurt Lauren?" Kevin asked in confusion, staring up at his brother with a childlike innocence that Michael was amazed he still possessed after everything he'd been through. "She's so nice."

"I dunno, buddy." Michael answered truthfully, already coming up with a plethora of torturous ways in which he was going to make Danny Romalotti suffer if he had so much as breathed on her. "There are bad people out there who just like to hurt good people I guess."

"Like my dad." Kevin replied, nodding his head in understanding.

"Yeah." he mumbled distractedly, a horrible thought crossing his mind at the mention of his stepfather. "Like Tom…"

"Michael?" bellowed a familiar voice from the hallway. It was Neil, and he sounded upset.

"We're in here!" Michael replied, standing up from the couch and glancing back at Kevin nervously. Please don't let it be bad news.

"Have there been any phone calls?" Neil asked immediately as he entered the room. Alone.

"None." Michael informed him regretfully. "What about you? Did you find Danny? Did he take her?"

"I found him alright, but he's not the one who took her."

"That's impossible!" Michael exclaimed, though he knew it wasn't. There were other possibilities. Ones that Michael didn't want to think about. "I know it was him." Please let it be him.

"I finally managed to get one of the kids to tell me where he was." Neil explained, offering Michael a sad smile and he could tell the older man had been hoping it was Danny too. They could deal with Romalotti, but if someone else had her… If he had her… "Turns out he went to a house party about four blocks away from the hotel right after the altercation at prom." Neil continued, oblivious to the inner turmoil going on inside Michael's head. "He's been there ever since."

"But you don't know that for sure." Michael reasoned, desperate to hold onto the belief that Danny was behind all this because the alternative was too terrifying to even contemplate. "They could just be covering for him."

"I thought so too," Neil agreed, sitting down on the edge of the couch in exhaustion. "So I went to the party to see for myself if he was really there."

"Even if he was at the party, that doesn't mean he hasn't got her hidden away somewhere…"

"He was passed out cold, had been for hours." Neil declared resolutely, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "Danny didn't do this, Michael."

"Then who did?" Kevin asked timidly and both Michael and Neil turned to look at him in surprise, both having forgotten the little boy was still in the room.

"I don't know, kiddo." Neil replied, reaching out from his spot on the couch to ruffle Kevin's hair playfully. "But we're sure as heck gonna find out, aren't we Michael?"

"Yeah." he replied, offering the little boy a reassuring smile even though there was a voice in his head telling him that he already did know who had taken Lauren. And if he was right, they may never get her back.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, the house was crawling with police officers. Having ruled Danny out as Lauren's kidnapper, Neil had determined that they needed to get the police involved. Michael had agreed, silently. In fact, he hadn't spoken a word since coming to the realization that Terrible Tom Fisher had kidnapped the woman he loved more than life.

What was there to say anyway? Gee, Mr. Fenmore. I'm really sorry to tell you this, but I'm pretty sure that it's my evil stepfather who has kidnapped your daughter and if he's as angry at me as I think he is, there's no telling what he might do to her.

So instead he kept quiet and prayed to God he was wrong.

But then the phone rang.

"Wait! Don't answer it." One of the police officers warned Neil when he reached out to grab the receiver. The three of them waited impatiently, Kevin glued to Michael's side on the couch as they held their breath and waited for the signal. The officer nodded and Neil immediately hit the speaker phone button.

"Hello?" Neil answered, trying to sound calm and failing miserably.

"Daddy!" Lauren sobbed, obviously relieved to hear her father's voice.

"Princess!" Neil cried out frantically. "Where are you? What's wrong?"

"I'm…" she started to say when all of a sudden they heard her gasp out in pain.

"Uh, uh. I don't think so." A menacing voice interrupted, one that Michael instantly recognized.

"Who is this?" Neil demanded to know. "What have you done to my daughter?"

"Chill out, Daddy Warbucks." he snarled. "I ain't done nothin to your precious baby girl. Yet."

"Tom," Michael hissed, ignoring Neil's look of shock at having finally identified the caller. "If you hurt her, I will kill you."

"Well, well. If it isn't my bastard stepson." Tom chuckled tauntingly. "I still don't know how you managed to snag yourself a hot little piece of ass like this one. I might just have to try her out for myself."

"Touch her and you're a dead man." Michael warned, his voice dripping with venom.

"Why are you doing this?" Neil interrupted, anxious to find a way to get his daughter back. "What do you want?"

"You know damn well what I want!" Tom hissed. Michael glanced down at the terrified little boy beside him and Kevin met his gaze, eyes wide with understanding. "You stole my kid, so now I'm stealing yours." Tom continued. "Not a nice feeling, is it?"

"This isn't about Kevin. You don't give a rat's ass about him!" Michael argued, holding his baby brother a little tighter when he heard him whimper softly. "You did this for money."

"Why, son. I'm hurt that you think so little of me." Tom replied, sarcasm clearly evident in his voice. "Of course, if you don't want to give me my son back , then I suppose we could settle this for a small monetary fee instead."

"How much?" Neil said gruffly.

"Hmm." Tom hesitated and Michael could picture the sick bastard calculating how much he thought Lauren's life was worth. "Ten million should cover it."

"Are you insane?" Neil gapped in astonishment. "I can't get my hands on that kind of cash right away."

"Well then, say goodbye to your little princess." Tom sneered, obviously frustrated by Neil's lack of co-operation. They could hear a small commotion in the background and Michael sat up straighter when he heard Lauren cry out in pain. "Any last words, sweetheart?"

"Michael?" she sobbed.

"I'm here, baby." he replied comfortingly, trying to keep his own tears at bay. "Just tell me where you are."

"I…" she started to say, then stopped and Michael could tell that Tom had threatened to hit her again if she gave away their location. "I love you, city boy." Lauren choked out, her voice trembling slightly. "And you were right, it's definitely not our scene."

"What?" Michael asked, confused by her odd choice of words. "Lauren, I don't…" The sound of the line disconnecting echoed through the crowded living room.

"Lauren!" Neil screamed out in desperation. "Damn it! Were you able to get a trace?"

"No." One of the police officers replied, shaking his head in frustration. "If you'd just been able to keep him on the line for five seconds longer…"

"Five seconds!" Neil bellowed angrily. "If anything happens to my daughter because you couldn't do your damn job…" his voice broke on a sob and he sat down on the couch, burying his face in his hands. A tense filled silence fell over the room then, nobody knowing what to do or say.

"What do we do now?" Kevin asked timidly, tears staining his cheeks that had started falling the minute he heard his father's voice.

"I have some money in an offshore account." Neil replied, his voice hoarse. "It might be enough."

"No, absolutely not." One of the police officers argued, shaking his head in disapproval. "I can't allow you to give into the ransom demands, Mr. Fenmore. You know that. Besides, we still don't know where he's taken her."

"But if he calls back…" Neil started to protest.

"If he calls back we'll do our best to keep him on the line longer so that we can get a trace. Until then, I just want everyone to sit tight. You won't be helping Lauren by making any rash decisions." With that, he took some of the other officers and left to go and run a background check on Tom Fisher. Michael was still seated on the couch, staring at the phone as if it held all the answers in the universe

"What are you thinking?" Kevin asked quietly. Michael shook his head, still staring off into space.

"I just can't get Lauren's words out of my head." Michael replied distractedly, lost in thought. "Just something about the way she said it." he continued, his brow furrowed in confusion. "I think she was trying to tell me something."

"Like what?" Neil questioned, anxious to hear any information that might help him get his daughter back. Michael dissected Lauren's words over and over again in his head. Why would she call him 'city boy'? And what did she mean by 'it's not our scene'? What's not our scene?

"Michael?" Neil prodded. "If you know something, tell me."

"Oh, God." his eyes widened in realization as the puzzle pieces finally fit together. A small smile spread across his face and he shook his head at Lauren's resourcefulness. "I know where she is." he exclaimed, standing up from the couch. "I know where he's taken her!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I still think we should have told the authorities about this." Neil said worriedly. He and Michael were seated in a rental car outside of Moe's Tavern. After realizing what Lauren was trying to tell him, Michael had quietly explained to Neil where she was and how he had figured it out.

The 'city boy' comment was in reference to their song by Journey. That's how Michael realized that Tom had taken her back to Detroit. Then he remembered the bad luck they'd had on the two occasions when they'd tried out the bar scene, and that's when it had hit him. Tom was hiding out in his favourite bar, Moe's Tavern.

The same place where he and Lauren had shared their first kiss.

Leaving Kevin in the care of Neil's housekeeper, the two men had discreetly left the estate and hopped on the Fenmore jet. Now they were staked out in front of the closed bar, looking for any sign of life.

There was none.

"We can't risk it." Michael argued. "Tom has nothing to lose. If he thinks the police are onto him, there's no telling what he might do to Lauren."

"So then what do you propose we do?" Neil questioned. "Just barge in there, guns blazing?"

"You packing heat, sir?" Michael teased.

"It was a figure of speech." Neil replied gruffly, but Michael saw the hint of a smile on his face. "Seriously, though. What are we going to do?"

"Well, we've got the element of surprise in our favor." Michael reasoned. "Tom has no idea we're here."

"And we don't even know if he's here for sure." Neil pointed out.

"Oh, he's here alright." Michael said assuredly. "I can feel it."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Neil replied, opening the car door and stepping outside into the crisp night air. "Let's go get Lauren back."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Door's unlocked." Michael announced, slowly pulling open the back door of the pub.

"Wait!" Neil reached out to stop him. "Shouldn't we come up with a plan first?"

"Fine." Michael agree. "You get Lauren and I'll deal with Tom."

"No way." Neil argued. "I'm not letting you face off with that creep on your own."

"I know Tom." Michael reasoned. "I know what makes him tick."

"We don't need him to tick, we need him to give me my daughter back!" Neil hissed. Michael was about to respond when all of a sudden he heard what sounded like a cry come from somewhere inside the bar.

"Did you hear that?" he whispered. Neil shook his head "no", but then it happened again - louder this time.

"It's coming from inside." Neil surmised, already rushing through the open door. Michael followed closely behind him, squinting in the darkness to try and make out his surroundings. They were walking down a narrow hallway, closed doors on either side. Without hesitation, Neil grabbed hold of the door handle to his right and flung it open.

But it was nothing more than a supply closet.

Undeterred, they moved onto the next door. But this time, it was locked.

"Find something to pry it open with." Neil whispered.

"Like what?" Michael replied, his eyes frantically looking around for anything they could use to get the door open. To get to Lauren.

"Stand back." Neil hissed warningly. Michael did as he was told, moving away from the door as the older man took a few steps back before plowing forward and kicking the locked door open. When the dust settled, both men stepped into the dimly lit room and scanned the area for any trace of Lauren. And then they saw it. In the corner of the room, there was a chair. And in that chair sat the woman that both men loved more than life.

"Lauren!" Michael yelled out as he ran to her. She was bound and gagged, masking tape covered her mouth and both hands were tied behind her back. Tears of relief fell from her eyes as she gazed up at him in gratitude.

"Oh, sweetie." Michael cooed, reaching out to cup her cheek in his hand. "This may hurt a bit, okay?" She nodded and Michael quickly ripped the tape off her mouth.

"Michael!" Lauren gasped. "Quickly! You have to untie me, he'll be back any minute."

"Did he hurt you?" Neil called out from somewhere behind them.

"No, daddy." Lauren replied, though her black eye told a different story. "Not really."

"Alright, let's get out of here." Michael said, crouching down behind the chair as he worked on untying the rope from around her slender wrists.

"I wasn't sure if you'd figure out what I meant on the phone." Lauren laughed softly, rubbing her sore wrists once Michael had finished freeing them.

"I almost didn't," Michael exclaimed, grinning with pride as he helped her up. "That was a pretty neat trick, Ms. Fenmore. Maybe you should forget design school and work for the CIA instead?"

"Come on you two!" Neil hollered out from his spot near the door. "We can have our reunion later, let's get out of here before…"

"Before what?"

All three of them turned and looked towards the backdoor at the sound of Tom's voice.

"Where the hell do ya'll think you're goin?" He sneered, raising the gun he still held in his hand and aiming it at Michael and Lauren.

"We don't want any trouble." Neil said diplomatically, trying to draw his attention away from the two teens. "Just let us walk out of here and we can forget this ever happened."

"Bullshit!" Tom shouted. "You'll sick the feds on me the second I let you go."

"We won't!" Lauren protested. "I promise."

"Shut up!" he ordered, raising the gun and aiming directly at her head. "Just shut up."

"Tom." Michael said, his voice steady as he discreetly moved to stand in front of Lauren. "Let them go. This is between me and you, this has nothing to do with them…"

"Like hell it doesn't!" Tom argued, glaring at Michael in disgust. "You got nothin I want, boy. But Mr. Money Bags over here sure does." he turned his attention to Neil, the gun still aimed in Michael and Lauren's direction. "You got my money?"

"No." Neil replied nervously, his gaze darting between Lauren and the gun. "I told you, there wasn't enough time and I…"

"Wrong answer." Tom snarled, cocking the gun and pulling the trigger.

"No!" Michael screamed, jumping in front of Lauren and shielding her body as they fell to the ground. Neil took advantage of Tom's momentary distraction and tackled the smaller man to the floor. They wrestled for the gun, Tom trying to wedge himself out from underneath Neil's crushing weight when all of a sudden…

The gun went off.